Coke and Pop Tarts Aren't Breakfast

Walking to the Metro Station on my way to work in the morning, I saw kids eating breakfast on the streets.

The Storandts

I saw kids eating breakfast on the streets as I walked to the Metro Station on my way to work in the morning when living in Washington, D.C.

Street vendors were on the corners of busy streets, especially those with Metro Stations. Often parents with young children in tow would stop to buy “breakfast” for their children on the way to school in the morning. Children were eating sugary drinks and snack bags -- Cheetos, Fritos, chips, and other high fructose and fatty foods -- inexpensive and easy to buy, especially in neighborhoods with few if any grocery stores.

Are the kids in El Dorado eating healthier than the kids in D.C.? What did the kids in your life have for breakfast this morning? Assuming they took the time to have breakfast at all, what did they find in your refrigerator and kitchen cupboards?

What did you have for breakfast? As a role model for the kids in your life, what messages are you giving them about what is a healthy breakfast?

Now a days, so much of the food in our kitchens and household diets is processed food. If it comes out of the freezer -- breakfast burritos, frozen waffles, bacon breakfast bowls, and the like -- it is processed food and contains high-fructose corn syrup, trans fats, and excessive salt while being low in fiber and healthy nutrients.

For health living, eating fresh is important -- fresh, rather than processed. That includes cooked eggs, raw fruit, milk (whether dairy, soy, or almond), and peanut and honey on toast.

What kids eat matters - because their bodies and brains are developing. What you eat matters.

It matters what we put into our bodies. We are what we eat. Start with breakfast.

A number of websites provide free and easy recipes that youth and adults can prepare using healthy ingredients. Check out this slide show with recipes: 9 Reasons Breakfast Matters (Plus Recipes to Make Mornings a Breeze!) at: http://www.babble.com/best-recipes/9-reasons-breakfast-matters/